Blog Roll

Mar 31, 2007

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them w ith roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

Share This

Mar 25, 2007

We all think of the sun as being yellow or orange in color, but in reality, it is white. The yellow tones we see are actually due to a phenomenon known as "atmospheric scattering."The sun is the brightest star in our galaxy right? Wrong. While most stars in the Milky Way galaxy are considered "red dwarfs" (relatively smaller and cooler stars), approximately 15% of the stars in the galaxy are brighter than our sunWe may picture that all the planets in our galaxy orbit around the sun, while the sun is essentially still. Actually the sun orbits the galactic center of the Milky Way galaxy, completing a revolution every 225 to 250 million years.The sun is basically a giant nuclear fusion reactor. Its energy is derived from the nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei into the gas helium.Scientists have just learned that the sun's magnetic field is vastly more active than previously thought. The Japanese satellite Hinode, launched in September 2006, began sending images back to earth in March 2007 showing dynamic gas movement through the sun's outer layers. Astronomers have hailed the discoveries, predicting an entirely new area of study will form based on the new data.Many characteristics of the sun still puzzle modern scientists, such as the question: why is the sun's outer atmosphere measured at 1 million degrees K, while the surface is a relatively cool 6,000 K?The ultraviolet light in the sun's rays is antiseptic, meaning it can kill microorganisms that cause infections.Stonehenge, constructed roughly 3,000 years BC in what is now Great Britain, was likely an early scientific observatory built to measure the sun's movement across the sky (in reality, the Earth's movement) so they could predict astronomical phenomena.We owe the structure of the 24-hour day to ancient Egypt's stories of their sun-god Ra, who was believed to spend the night hours traveling between the 12 domains of the dark underworld, and the light hours between the 12 domains of the day.Scientists believe the sun will eventually die by turning into a "red giant." Sometime before that, the sun's mass will diminish as the outer layers expand, pushing the Earth and other planets further away from it but not before our water is boiled away and atmosphere obliterated. (But cheer up, this is likely to around 4 to 5 billion years from now.)

Share This

Mar 20, 2007

Notes:While I don't want to condone the consumption of awful food, McDonalds has cool lids for this. Try and get the lids that have the circle cut in the top (maybe McFlurries).If you use a balloon, it is actually better to use an old one that you have carefully deflated. The streched latex works better than new.

step 2Punch out the bottom of the cup.Use scissors to punch a hole in the bottom of the cup. Simply rip out the bottom using your thumb to punch out the bottom. It really doesn't have to be pretty, just make a tube.

step 3Attach skinCut balloon or glove to get a piece of latex large enough to cover the bottom of cup.Use tape (or your favorite adhesive method) to tack down the latex to the cup. Then seal up the latex to make an air-tight membrane over the cup (basically - make a drum).

step 4Attach Lid and annoy others.Attach lid and fire away.If you cut the hole, try and keep the hole to about half the total diameter of the lid (to make better rings).

To fire:Pinch and strech latex This puff is not incredibly powerful, but can be felt. The TWUNK sound as the cannon is fired will annoy parents/spouses/co-workers within three minutes.

Add smoke and you can make smoke rings. I imagine some creative type could come up with way of shooting smells...

Share This

Mar 15, 2007

Couple find faceless dollar coin Mary and Ray Smith can't make heads or tails of a new presidential dollar coin they found last week. It doesn't have either. A week after the revelation that some of the coins slipped out of the US Mint without "In God We Trust" stamped on the edge, the Smiths said Tuesday they found one with nothing stamped on either flat sideIt does have "In God We Trust" on the edge. What's missing is the image of George Washington on the front and the Statue of Liberty on the back. Instead, the Smiths' coin is just smooth, shiny metal.

"We're just so excited," Mary Smith told The Associated Press. "I'm just dumbfounded that we actually found something significant."

Mint spokesman Michael White said officials had not confirmed the Smiths' find. But Ron Guth, a coin authenticator with Professional Coin Grading Service of Newport Beach, Calif., said after examining it he is certain the coin is authentic.

The couple, who live in Fort Collins north of Denver and collect coins, bought two rolls of the presidential dollars March 7 after hearing about the earlier mistake. Mary Smith said she thought they might find a "Godless" dollar of their own.

The faceless dollar could be worth thousands of dollars, maybe more, Guth said. The value will depend on how many similar misprints are found, but the Smiths' will always be worth more because it will be the first one independently authenticated, he said.

The first "Godless" coins went into circulation Feb. 15.

The Mint struck 300 million presidential coins, about half in Philadelphia and half in Denver. The Smiths' coin bears a D, meaning it was produced by the Denver Mint. The "Godless" coins were all believed to have come from the Philadelphia Mint.

The Smiths said that when they get their coin back from Guth, they'll stick it in a bank vault for at least a while.

Share This

Mar 12, 2007

The tallest tower in the world to be Burj Dubai is now the taller than any building in both the Middle East and Europe. Having reached 110 stroeys and 380 metres high it has the largest number of floors in any world building, at the moment it matches the Chicago Sears Tower, with one floor a week being completed it will be the sole record holder by next week.

There are only 38 other buildings in the world that reach over 300 metres high, with 3 of them now being in Dubai.

Share This

Mar 9, 2007

The largest flower in the world, the rafflesia arnoldi, weighs 7 kg (15 pounds) and grows only on the Sumatra island of Indonesia. Its petals grow to ½ metre (1,6 feet) long and 2,5 cm (1 inch) thick.There are 16 species of rafflesia, found in Sumatra, Malaysia and Borneo. The species is named after the naturalist Sir Stamford Raffles, who founded the British colony of Singapore in 1819. Raffles discovered the parasitic plant with his friend Dr. Joseph Arnold during their travels in May 1818. The rafflesia arnoldi is named after the two.

Several species of Rafflesia grow in the jungles of Southeast Asia, all of them threatened or endangered. Rafflesia arnoldii is the largest; its blossom attains a diameter of nearly a meter and can weigh up to 11 kg. Not only is it the world's largest flower, it is one of the most bizarre and improbable organisms on the planet.It produces no leaves, stems or roots but lives as a parasite on the Tetrastigma vine, which grows only in primary (undisturbed) rainforest. Only the flower or bud can be seen; the rest of the plant exists only as filaments within its unfortunate host. The blossom is pollinated by flies attracted by its scent, which resembles that of carrion.The Rafflesia is rare and fairly hard to locate. It is especially difficult to see in bloom; the buds take many months to develop and the blossom lasts for just a few days. How many of these strange plants still survive is unknown, but the last of them can be expected to vanish as the remaining primary forests of Borneo and Sumatra are burned.However fascinating and beautiful the rafflesia arnoldi may be, it is also called "corpse flower" and really reeks, the latter to attract flies for pollination. Of about 200,000 kinds of flowers in the world, the smallest is the duckweed, which can only be seen with a microscope.

Share This

Mar 2, 2007

There was a little excitement at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas with the arrival of the world's largest aircraft, a Russian Antonov 225.It was there to deliver a very large power transformer for Nevada Power, which had been built in Turkey. Apparently G.E. or Westinghouse weren't capable, or they lost the 'bid' to Turkey.Note the wingspan is just about a football field length. Aircraft specifications are at the bottom.